Refinance Before Your Loan Matures, Not After

Rate-and-Term and Cash-Out Refinancing for Commercial Property

A commercial refinance replaces your existing loan with new debt, either to improve the rate and term or to pull equity out of the property through a cash-out. The timing matters more than ever. A large share of commercial mortgages written during the low-rate years are hitting maturity, and many were underwritten at values and rates that no longer hold. Refinancing ahead of that maturity wall gives owners room to restructure on their own schedule instead of scrambling when the balloon comes due. A rate-and-term refinance lowers your monthly payment or extends your amortization without changing the loan balance much. A cash-out refinance taps the equity you have built to fund improvements, acquire another property, or return capital to investors. The catch on many existing loans is the exit cost. CMBS and life company loans often carry defeasance or yield maintenance provisions that make an early payoff expensive, and we model those costs before recommending a refinance so the numbers actually work. CapitalAx places refinances through banks, credit unions, agency lenders, CMBS conduits, and life insurance companies across every major property type.

Key Terms

Who Is It For

• Owners facing a loan maturity or balloon payment in the next 12 to 24 months
• Borrowers looking to lower a rate or extend amortization on an existing loan
• Investors who want to pull built-up equity out through a cash-out refinance
• Property owners exiting a bridge or construction loan into permanent debt
• Sponsors returning capital to partners without selling the asset

Common Use Cases

• Rate-and-term refinance to lower payments or extend the amortization schedule
• Cash-out refinance to fund improvements, acquisitions, or investor distributions
• Replacing maturing debt ahead of a balloon payment
• Refinancing out of a bridge or construction loan into permanent financing
• Restructuring loan terms as property income grows

Borrower Scenarios

• An owner of a 40-unit apartment building with a CMBS loan maturing in 18 months, starting a rate-and-term refinance early to replace 5.5% debt before the balloon, and modeling a $180K defeasance cost against the new terms to confirm the move penciled.
• An industrial property owner with $6M of equity built over eight years, using a cash-out refinance to pull $3.5M and fund the acquisition of a second warehouse without selling the first.
• A sponsor exiting a 24-month bridge loan on a repositioned retail center now stabilized at 94% occupancy, refinancing into a 10-year fixed permanent loan at 7% with a life company lender.
• A multifamily owner facing a balloon payment on a $12M loan, refinancing 14 months ahead of maturity into agency debt with a 30-year amortization to lower the monthly payment and lock a fixed rate.

Why CapitalAx

Frequently Asked Questions